Stick To The Vision

Creating vision is easier than sticking to it, at least for me it is. When I first got here we met with all of our leaders at my house for a BBQ to get to know everyone, create community among leaders and to cast a strategic vision/plan for our ministry. I’m a simple man so our plan is simple but the task is hard. Here is a general overview of what I shared with our team:

Year 1: Year of Evangelism – Focus on making midweek services awesome. Work on providing a great atmosphere for students to be exposed to Jesus.

Year 2: Year of Discipleship – Focus on creating a healthy small group program. Focus on getting adults and students together in studying the Bible in homes.

Year 3: Year of Serving – Focus on integrating the heart of service within our students through small groups. Serving at different serve project and within the church.

There are obviously more specific details for each of these but so you understand the point, there they are. When it comes to setting vision, there are a few things that come to mind I think as leaders we need to keep in mind:

Have a Vision – If you do not have a vision or plan for the future of your ministry, I would get one. Knowing where you want to go is knowing what to pray for. I want to be constantly be pushing to where I believe God is leading our ministry and setting vision allows you to know if you get there.

Stick To Your Vision – If you been in prayer over the direction of your ministry and it lines with the values of your church, stick to it. Don’t apologize for it. People will always question the leaders decisions but if you have been going about it in a Godly way, they will never question your intentions behind the decisions. Stick to it.

When You Get Off Track – Get back on it. Right now I am in need to fully stick to our plan of year one. I know the need of discipleship and that is where my heart is and it is my tendency to jump to that. I have been doing this recently and I have been getting over worked. There are things that need to happen in our ministry before we tackle discipleship head on, and I need to stick with my vision because I know the infrastructure we have now won’t be able to hold. This is what year 1 is about. Now is there discipleship happening? Of course. We have small groups now just not in a solid structure in which I hope to bring next year. The important thing is to realize when you get off track and stay the course. Be in prayer, keep your team accountable and keep fighting the good fight reaching students.

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Justin Knowles has been a pastor for the last 10 years and is the Lead Student Ministries Pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in San Dimas, CA. He oversees 7th-12th grade and has an amazing team he does it all with. He hosts The Other Student Ministry Podcast, loves to write about his ministry journey and teach at all kinds of camps. Him and his wife Kristin has a baby boy named Graham and a cat named CATalie Portman.